Young Boy Cured By Dedicated Parents

A young boy with a rare disease doctors likened to a permanent hangover, has been cured by his dedicated parents who discovered a cure for him.

Reuben Grainger-Mead was diagnosed with a devastating rare blood disorder. The condition lowered his immune system so he constantly fell ill, he was also suffered from other ailments like eczema and asthma.

He became weak and struggled to speak, his growth was stunted which left him 18 months behind other children with is all-round development.

After countless tests, doctors told the parents that they were powerless to help him. But Mr Mead, 45, and Mrs Grainger-Mead, 39, didn’t not give up hope and continued to search for alternative therapies.

Doctors believe his condition is unique, but said it is similar to Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA) – but some of his symptoms were very different.

“The stark reality was that Reuben needed a blood transfusion every month to increase his red blood cell count, which would mean constant care throughout his whole life and so much time spent in hospital… “The last resort would then have been a bone marrow transplant, which doctors said he may not have survived because he was so ill.”

In their quest for a miracle remedy, Mr. And Mrs Mead turned to nutritional consultant Diana Wright.

Mrs Wright discovered Reuben lacked certain vital amino acids, proteins, in his body, so he was put on a course of dietary supplements which were mixed into his food and drink, with incredible success.

Ruben is now a healthy eight-year-old thanks to the combination of six daily protein supplements.

The success of Reubens treatment has inspired a scientific study to find out if similar therapies work on other ill children and adults.

Reubens story became the inspiration for the film Lorenzo’s Oil, starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon.

Dr Jose Delafuente, an eminent hematologist at Imperial College, London, who is running the research, said:

“Reuben has been given amino acids as part of a diet of supplements and this seems to have a positive effect on him… “They seem to be helping his cells grow normally and as a result he is starting to grow properly… “There are about 100 children suffering from DBA in the UK, and one of the features of this condition is that they have a great risk of developing cancer, particularly leukemia and bone cancer but also many other cancers… “This is because of a protein defect in the blood… “There is early evidence that using amino acids may overcome this problem with the protein, and ultimately we hope the risk of DBA sufferers developing cancer will be abolished… “So we may learn lessons from this which help in the fight against cancer… “DBA sufferers have a life expectancy of around 40 so this is highly important research.”